


Pen To Paper

by Exceeding



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Adolescent Sexuality, Alternate Universe - High School, Awkward Dates, Awkward Flirting, Awkwardness, Bullying, Crushes, Developing Friendships, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Kissing, M/M, Misunderstandings, Not Sure What Else To Put!, OT12 (EXO), Romance, School, Secret Crush, Secret Relationship, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:02:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22130725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Exceeding/pseuds/Exceeding
Summary: Sehun a student at his local school has a huge crush on his English teacher Mr. Huang Zitao. Instead of doing the work, however, he writes his fantasies about the pair in his notepad.One day when Mr. Huang has his student in detention the notepad lets him know just how Sehun feels about him!
Relationships: Huang Zi Tao | Z.Tao/Oh Sehun
Kudos: 7





	1. Sehun's Notepad Confesses To His Teacher

* * *

Sehun crinkled his nose a little at one of his friends, his blonde hair tickled his forehead slightly as he rose his head in rising anger.

"That's so dorky, who writes fanfiction?!"

Sehun almost smacked their head off of their shoulders in anger, but being the small timid dorky fan-fiction writer he was it was like asking for a death wish. He picked up his books and ran out of the food hall. 

"I bet you write it yourself, just trying to look good in front of the girls! Why did you embarrass me!?"

He screamed down the corridor, the echo bouncing off of the walls. 

"Sehun?" A voice called, it sent chills down the boy's spine.

He turned around to see his English teacher, Huang ZiTao. He shook his head. _Mr. Huang._

"What are you doing shouting outside my room?"

Sehun glanced to the door he was next to and gasped - he really was outside his room! How did that happen? Did he subconsciously walk towards it?

Sehun nodded in embarrassment.

"Something about girls?" Mr. Huang grinned and bent his face down to the student in front of him, wanting to tease him.

A bright blush gently rose on the writers' cheeks.

"I was wondering how your assignment was coming along." ZiTao said emphasising the 'coming along', it was almost a week ago he asked his class to hand in their work and still, Sehun avoided it like it was the plague. 

With an awkward shrug, Sehun smiled, trying to play off not handing in his homework. "I left it at home?" He said with a twiddle of his thumbs in front of his books.

"Bring it in tomorrow, or I'll have no choice but to give you detention - it's not fair on the other students that I'm giving you special treatment." The English teacher warned as he waved his finger and turned to walk back into his classroom. With a nod, Sehun started to walk away.

_Wait_ , he thought.

"Y-You're giving me what?" Sehun said after a few seconds barging in there himself.

Mr. Huang was eating pasta from a plastic container. He placed down his fork in amusement. "I'm giving you tomorrows lesson to hand it in or you'll be given a detention." He said returning his focus back to his lunch. 

"Argh!" Sehun groaned as he sat down in his bedroom and scribbled down 'daydreams at school'. Mr. Huang had wanted everyone to write a two paged story based on a daydream they've had at school. It could be something as silly as glancing out of the window and pretending there's a herd of animals on the school site and finding that more amusing that the lesson they were in.

In Sehun's case, all he did was daydream about Mr. Huang - and not the so innocent daydreams! Breathing heavily Sehun slowly slid out the small notepad he took everywhere, he flicked onto a page he had written on today. 

_Sharp teeth scraped across the bare shoulder of his captive, Mr. Huang breathed into their ear teasingly and whispered. "Do you like your special treatment... Sehun..." His hands trailed over the much younger body, downwards until he reached-_

Sehun felt the steam puffing out of his ears as he closed his notepad shut with a slam!

"There's no way I could hand in this!"

Truth be told, Sehun did actually daydream this while Mr. Huang was talking to him.

How perverted.

He clutched the notepad to him tightly and opened his eyes to see his glasses leaking from his tears.

His eyes widened, "What am I, an idiot? Nothing would ever happen between us, stupid Sehun. Stupid!"

He sniffled and laid down on his side with the pad in his arms holding it tight. 

"Sehun what's going on up there?!" His mother shouted from downstairs angrily. 

Sehun pouted, "The rantings of a fanboy!" 

The next day Sehun was dreading the delivery of his homework, _or no homework_ he thought. A few of the people that overheard his friend from the food hall shoved past him and called him dorky. He felt his eyes sting.

"Sup, Sehun!" His friend said whacking his back playfully making Sehun jerk forward, his hair covering up the murderous intent unravelling on his face.

He stood up straight and headed for the English classroom door like the other students. 

"You're late. Do you not like my lessons?" The teacher said disappointingly as Sehun stepped into the classroom.

He felt the eyes on him and heard the whispers and comments about is overgrown hair and something about being a dork... and a loser.

He bit the inside of his mouth and shakily walked over to Mr. Huang's desk.

"S-Sorry I'm late, and I do like your lessons!" Sehun said in a tone that made ZiTao's slight anger fade away.

"Of course he does, he uses them to learn how to write more fanfiction, nerd!" Someone called at the back of the class followed by laughs and cheers.

"Fanfiction?" Mr. Huang questioned, Sehun's eyes widened and he quickly made his way to his seat ignoring the question.

"There's nothing wrong with fanfiction." Mr. Huang defended sharply as he turned around to the projector screen to talk about a piece of text being displayed. "...And don't call him a nerd or I'll make it so you fail this class." The laughing stopped. 

"Can he do that?" A student questioned. 

"I don't know..." Another student said sounding worried. 

Sehun felt himself feel hot, he tapped his flushed face. _Mr. Huang defended me..._

Thoughts raced into his head. He could feel himself blushing.

"... that reminds me. Sehun, did you bring your assignment in for me? You've had a week extra."

Sehun felt himself turn to mush as he slumped in his chair that was against the wall, he was drooling over crazy fantasies he would write down in his notepad next!

"Sehun!"

Sehun sat up properly and blushed.

"A-Ah... The assignment..."

The majority of the class was filled with booming laughter.

"He probably only wrote his fanfiction to hand in!" Someone called and laughed so hard they began coughing.

Sehun clenched his fists but released them knowing it was true. 

"Shut up, you wouldn't be laughing if you hadn't have done your assignments," ZiTao said angrily at his loud class - no wonder he was having terrible sleep from headaches!

"Sehun, stay behind and we'll talk about this. It's becoming an issue and I'd like to mark your work like everyone else's if you don't mind."

Sehun felt a dark shade cover his spirit. Mr. Huang wasn't defending him, he was just defending the lesson of English. Anything to do with it; homework, fanfiction, _the actual lesson_. Mr. Huang didn't care about Sehun personally. Just like his fanfictions, it was all in Sehun's head. He let a few tears slip past him thankfully unnoticed by his classmates. 

  
Finally, the bell rang and the whole class dived out of the room for their precious free break time. Sehun received a detention from Mr. Huang. Since tomorrow he had no lessons, he would spend the whole day in English writing his daydream assignment.

The fact he'd be with his English teacher all day didn't even make him feel happy... 

Sehun slowly stepped out of the classroom and leant against the wall to stop himself from falling down. "I had all these crazy ideas in my head... I never realised it would hurt so much to be made to realise my fantasies were only going to be what they were." He whispered clutching his books and notepad tight.

He felt the tears he tried to hold back burst through the flood gates and pour down his round cheeks.

Silent cries soon turned into shaky sobs and then eventually yelps and whimpers full of sadness.

Other students that walked past awkwardly sped up or just sighed at the boy. 

"Yo, Sehun!" Sehun's 'friend' called, he stayed silent as he saw Sehun trying to hold back the noises and tears. The writer quickly wiped his eyes.

"What?" He sniffled not in the mood for his friends teasing.

"I'm sitting with those girls at lunch, so you'll sort of be on your own." Sehun sadly smiled under his fringe casting a shadow on his face.

"That's fine..." He lied and walked down the corridor. 

Sehun couldn't bring himself to burn the book or bin it, or just get rid of it. He wanted to...

To end the lies he was telling himself.

As he miserably walked into the classroom the next day, in his arms was still the notepad he literally kept all of his dirty daydreams inside. As Sehun sighed, Mr. Huang turned around from taking stuff out of his messenger bag.

"Right, Sehun. Take a seat anywhere." Mr. Huang motioned to the full set of empty seats. He took his usual one seeing not seeing the point in sitting in another seat. ZiTao came over hastily handed his student a piece of lined paper.

"Just write anything, it doesn't have to be an exact daydream. I really need your work for this class to be able to mark you." He begged, looking down.

Sehun looked up at him, his large eyes covered by the top of his long fringe. ZiTao almost chuckled at the appearance, it was sort of _cute_. 

"Can I leave this class?" Sehun asked suddenly.

"L-Leave?" Mr. Huang asked sounding confused.

With a nod, Sehun stood up. "There's no point of me writing this if I leave. This class... I shouldn't have picked it. I'm sorry Mr. Huang, for causing you this worry about my work but there's no need to anymore. I'll just swap to art or something."

Mr. Huang didn't speak. He stayed silent.

Sehun bit his lip and nodded, assuring himself that there was seriously no feelings of love.

It was his own fault for overthinking things and having a crush, but sitting there in pain... Being bullied by the rest of the class, fantasising about a teacher who didn't seem to care much about him at all... He didn't want to go through that anymore. 

As his student began to pick up his books, ZiTao grabbed Sehun's arm hastily stopping him from doing so. The books fell to the floor as Sehun's eyes widened.

"Sehun, I care about you too, not just the work. Don't think teachers don't care about their students, because we do."

"Mr. Huang, I know that, but I-" 

"Don't leave my class." Sehun heard his teacher beg desperately. He slowly pulled his arm away, already missing the feel, he felt his eyes water up. He was so confused. 

"Ah, your books, sorry." Mr. Huang said with a small smile as he reached down to grab them. Sehun ran around his desk and shoved him out of the way a little and grabbed the books, but Mr. Huang was also holding them.

Mr. Huang grinned, "Can I see what's in this?" He asked playfully holding the notepad.

All of the colour drained from Sehun's face.

"If you don't want me to I won't, but your classmates said you wrote fanfiction. I'm just interested. If it's good we could use it for your assignment."

Sehun swallowed hard, if Mr. Huang read through his notepad it would be the end of him, he'd be told off. However, it would also let Mr. Huang know his feelings for him, then he could leave his class at least knowing his crush knew he liked them.

But, he couldn't bear the thought of being rejected...

He kept his head down as he clutched the books he had in his possession. He couldn't let his teacher see, he stood up and sighed looking at Mr. Huang.

Sehun's eyes widened as he saw Huang ZiTao skimming through the notepad anyway, his face looked a little red but he was staring hard at the words.

This was the end. The end of Sehun's high school life, he couldn't face this.

Moving schools sounded like the best option. 

"I ... I didn't know you... Do you feel this way about me?" ZiTao asked covering his face with his hand and placing the notepad down onto the desk. Sehun's face was crimson as he shook in fear.

"Sehun?" ZiTao questioned after silence only dominated them. 

"Mr. Huang... They're the only daydreams I have. I couldn't hand this into you, you're my teacher! It's wrong... So wrong! I shouldn't feel like this towards you, many students get crushes but this is too far. I'll leave your class, you don't need a pervert like me. You're so kind to me, and you stop them from bullying me... I'm sorry."

Tears finally escaped Sehun's large eyes as he sobbed and stepped backwards to stop himself from pushing himself into Mr. Huang.

"Just a word of advice, you should use ZiTao instead of Mr. Huang. If we were intimate with one another it would essentially suggest we'd be more comfortable with each other, no? It would help set the mood in your writing."

Sehun's sobs quieted as he looked at his teacher in front of him wide-eyed who was grinning.

"W-What?" 

"You're really good at writing, I might just become your fan." 

"Mr. Huang this is serious... Did you not listen to what I just said to you? Did you not just read something from here!?" Sehun shouted grabbing the notepad and shoving it into his teacher's hands. 

With a chuckle Mr. Huang put down the notepad once again and stretched out his large hand and cupped Sehun's face, "I heard every word. When it comes to you, I have to try and compose myself. I also think about you... Even though it's forbidden, I have a crush on you too Sehun." He whispered with a smile.

Sehun blushed violently and burrowed himself into Mr. Huang's shirt wetting it with his tears. 

"Can you pinch me?" Sehun mumbled into him. 

"Why?"

"If this isn't a dream then I'll be the happiest person alive." 

"No, _I will be_ ," ZiTao said wrapping his arms tighter around his student. 


	2. What? It Did Happen?!

* * *

Sehun awoke the next day. His alarm clock signalling that he had to get up.

His eye’s snapped open as he recalled the events of yesterday.

Usually, students don’t like going to school just because it was school, but he didn’t think he would be able to stomach today due to a whole other reason!

Blindly searching his bedside table for his glasses he heard his mother yelling from downstairs for him to get his breakfast.

He made his way down dressed and bag packed. He patted the bag happily. The notepad inside had made his crush be known to the person he liked.

His teacher!

He felt his whole body heat up at the memories of Mr. Huang hugging him and cupping his face yesterday…

It was like a dream!

Sehun scooped some food up onto a fork and then it dropped off as he looked down.

What if it was a dream?

He seriously could have dreamed everything that had happened yesterday…

He had asked Mr. Huang to pinch him, but the male never did.

He sighed.

Quickly shuffling through the crowds of students in the morning to get to his locker, Sehun decided that he probably needed a haircut as his fringe was seriously getting in the way. However, he preferred to hide his face beneath it too.

His mother had mentioned about booking him an appointment…

“Yo, ‘Hun!” His friend called as usual. The blonde sighed as he had now shortened his name to ‘Hun’.

He didn’t like nicknames… Especially from people who practically used him in case they were alone at lunch.

“What do you want?” The fanfiction writer almost hissed in reply. He put some of his books that he wouldn’t need until the afternoon into his locker and turned around to face them.

Once again he had that smug look on his face and a pair of girls came over giggling. “Just letting you know-”

“You can’t eat with me again, right?” Sehun said and glared through his fringe. He marched off down the hallway with his bag after closing his locker and then sped into a small jog.

He hid behind a wall and sighed.

“Sehun?” A voice chirped happily and the blond met eyes with Mr. Huang.

No.

…

No! No!

Sehun wasn’t ready to have his dream come to an end.

“Are you alright? What are you doing outside the teacher’s office? Do you need to talk to someone?” The teacher asked, tilting his head a little. He patiently stared at Sehun, and after a moment gave a small smile.

Sehun’s eyes were wide and staring right back at him.

“Sehun?” He questioned again.

The young student choked as Mr. Huang’s hand met his forehead and his other hand was pressed against his own skin. Sehun felt his heart rate sky rocket and all he could do was stare up at the hand that was pressed against his skin.

Contact!

…

He swallowed nervously. The older male removed his hand from Sehun’s head and placed it on his hip questioningly, “You’re not ill… Hm… Are you so silent because of yesterday evening?”

Sehun squinted and placed his own hand on his forehead to double-check… “So… That did happen?”

Mr. Huang eyes widened in shock. Didn't Sehun think that they had confessed to one another?  
  


He peered around for anyone that could be eavesdropping on their conversation.

However… He thought it too much of a risk to discuss the matter out here.

Sehun’s mouth opened to speak.

That did really happen! They did confess to one another.

Each other’s feelings… Were in the open.

“Mr. Huang… I…”

Then he squealed as he felt himself be pulled into the teacher’s office.

The blond student sighed as his bag had fallen to the floor after being pulled into the teacher’s office by the male in front of him.

He reached down to pick up the fallen bag but arms wrapped around him from in front. He could feel the pounding of a heart that wasn’t his as he slowly naturally nestled himself into the embrace.

“Sehun. I like you.” Mr. Huang said sadly as he squeezed the boy tightly against him. Sehun heard the deep voice, it riveted through him along with the vibrations from the older’s chest.

He swallowed nervously as he attempted to pull away for air, “I’m sorry.” The blond whispered as he picked up his bag.

He felt so stupid for not saying anything and staring in awe. Who could blame him though?

His teacher and him… They liked each other.

Zitao couldn’t believe Sehun assumed yesterday didn’t happen. What would have happened if he never mentioned it at all? Would the teenager have just continued his day like normal?

He smiled and cleared his throat, “Honestly… You make me worry about you and it’s because you thought I never said how I felt.”

“You didn’t pinch me!” Sehun squealed out in sudden anger.

“Pinch you?”

“Yes… So I knew I wasn’t dreaming.”

“Sehun. I’m sorry. I’ll tell you again so you know it’s real.”

The student braced himself.

“Seeing you makes my heart leap in my chest.” The teacher exclaimed painfully with a sigh as he placed his hand to his heart. “I told you I have a crush on you. Did you think I was lying?” He almost whispered as he stared at his pupil a little hurt.

“I have to compose myself daily. When you’re in my class I have to remind myself to teach the lesson and not watch you writing in that little notepad instead of doing the work.”

Sehun gasped, “Y-You knew I wasn’t doing the work?”

Zitao smirked as he saw the shocked expression on his adorable face.

“Yes.”

He was surprised he didn’t get embarrassed at the fact he just announced he watched him…

Sehun’s cheeks turned pink and he crossed his hands towards himself. He bowed his head, “I promise I’ll do the work… I just get distracted too, uh by you…” He muttered and then continued, “But it’s because I really like you too… Um… Then I write…”

He felt his whole body burning as he knew that Mr. Huang knew exactly what sort of stuff he wrote.

He’d read it yesterday! That much he knew was definitely true and had happened 100%. “You know!” He snapped embarrassed as the teacher stood still listening.

Then a few seconds later Mr. Huang gave a short laugh at Sehun’s embarrassed expression and reached his hand out to touch his red face.

Sehun gulped and then shut his eyes.

He opened them when the bell rung for classes to start. He saw the furrow on the taller male’s brow as he turned to the large coffee table and scooped up a pile of papers. He handed them to Sehun who took them confusingly, as the teacher swung a laptop case over his shoulder and grabbed a mug full of tea and headed towards the door.

“Mr. Huang?” The blond said a little disheartened by the sudden switch from them being so close to him being just his teacher and himself his student once more. He guessed this would have to be the way it was if they were to progress into anything.

“Will you help me take my papers to the lesson?”

“I um… I have to go the other way.” Sehun announced awkwardly. He didn’t have Mr. Huang’s lesson until later. As much as he’d love to spend more time with the older male he didn’t want a textbook thrown at him by Mr. Wu.

“I see. I understand.” The dark haired teacher grumbled slightly and then suddenly gave the student that was looking up at him a warm smile.

“Later then, Sehun.” He said and his shoes pressed against the hard floor to begin walking.

Those feet stumbled back as Zitao was caught off balance for a second. He looked down to see smaller arms wrapped around his abdomen.

He blinked for a second and pulled out a pair of glasses and pushed them up his nose and looked down again to make sure he wasn’t imagining it. He felt his face burning at Sehun’s actions when he confirmed they were happening.

There were footsteps trudging down the halls, students heading towards their lessons, they couldn’t see this!

The damage it would do to the pair of them…

He quickly tapped the younger’s arms and he was released. The warmth of the adorable blond smushed into the back of him was replaced by the cold air of the halls.

He turned around and ran his hand through the slightly longish hair of his student and smiled sadly with tinted cheeks.

The blond smiled for a quick second too and then darted off down the halls, his heart pounding wildly at what he managed to muster the courage to do. He was so happy!

“Mr. Huang?” A student called after the teacher was stood dazed at how adorable Sehun was.

A bunch of them began whispering, wondering if he was sick. He snapped out of it and turned to them.

“Have you finished your assignments?” He boomed loudly which caused them to rush into the room in a panic to quickly sneak what they could down on paper.

He grinned and entered the room. He couldn’t wait until later.

His class with Sehun was his favourite. He’d get to watch the adorable blond hard at work.

“You’re late Sehun.” His teacher spat and hovered over him with his ridiculous height. Mr. Wu _really_ didn’t tolerate late students. Sehun knew he was going to be late, but a detention was worth it if it meant he got to hug his crush Huang Zitao.

“Sorry, sir.” He said instantly and felt his soul ready to escape his material form.

Ignoring the apology, Wu Yifan rolled his eyes and shut the door behind the blond; trapping him into the class along with the other students who didn’t dare to peer up in case they got thrown out of the window.

“And, you were where exactly instead of making your way to my class?” He questioned sharply and ran a hand through his dirty blond locks.

Every student would agree (of course not to his face) that Wu Yifan was very high on the list of attractive teachers. If it wasn’t for his attitude and harshness he’d probably make students want to learn from his eyes alone.

Sehun peered into those eyes and swallowed. “I was helping Mr. Huang.” He said truthfully.

He didn’t want to be hung drawn and quartered in the middle of the classroom for lying.

“Huang, huh.” Mr. Wu repeated and then after a few dangerous seconds sighed. He motioned for Sehun to sit down and gave him detention in his break.

The blond whined internally… However, he supposed it was better than being ditched by his friend again.

Later the bell rang again to signal the students in the school’s break. Sehun sat and fiddled his thumbs as the teacher wiped the board from complicated mathematical multiplications.

Sehun wasn’t bad at Mathematics, he just preferred to not stand out and be bullied by anyone for being good at it, so he’d purposely get them wrong.

Wu Yifan picked up a mug full of a dark liquid. Sehun assumed it was coffee to get him through the day, Mr. Wu seemed like a coffee type of person.

The teacher span on his heels slowly and stopped drinking as he saw Sehun still perched in his seat.

“Ah.” He muttered and placed down his mug recalling the detention he’d given. He rumbled through a bag for a second and then placed a test he’d marked on Sehun’s desk.

The blond looked down and saw his name written in the name box and bit his lip.

“You scored a perfect 100%.” The teacher stated as if Sehun couldn’t read the large 100% written in thick red pen across the front.

“Sehun. I’m not keeping you here to punish you. I want you to consider being serious about this subject. There are Advanced Mathematics classes.”

The timid writer stood up in defence. “I’d have to drop some of my English lessons. I really like those…”

He gulped as Wu Yifan’s sharp gaze shot up from the paper and to his student's eyes.

“This isn’t about like. This is about your future.”

* * *

Sehun scowled as he walked down the halls at lunch after his Food class with the small meal he had made for an assessment in a container.

It wasn’t the teacher that caused his sour mood, Mr. Do Kyungsoo was so kind despite his unfortunate angry face. He was very passionate about food and it was evident in the way he was full of energy every lesson.

No student had seen him have an energy drink during their years here so they wondered where it came from and wished they could be so energetic…

Sehun was stressed out about his earlier lesson of Mathematics. Mr. Wu trying to make him drop English!

As if! He wasn’t going to give up the time he got to spend with Huang Zitao anytime soon.

He felt his stomach twist a little and trudged on.

He found himself outside Huang Zitao’s room and swallowed. He’d end up outside it without purposely meaning to.

He peered in through the small glass window in the door a little and saw the teacher sigh but then smile again as he opened his lunch.

Sehun almost chuckled as he saw pasta, same as the other day. He clutched the container and swallowed.

He opened the door nervously as he knew Mr. Huang’s eyes would be on him the second he did. He awkwardly closed it and turned back around.

“Sehun.” The name poured from Zitao’s lips like honey as he greeted the boy after the long morning of not seeing him. Sehun glanced at him and then his pasta, “Is it okay if I eat with you? I made food if you want some!” He squealed and held up the container to present his meal.

“Of course. I’d like to eat with you.”

“I-It’s okay?” The blond stammered in surprise.  
  


“It’s okay as long as I get to try something you made.” The teacher said with a small blush and cleared his throat as he put his pasta to the side.

“Ah… There’s only half because one of my classmates took some. He’s a little strange. He only acts up in my food class to irritate Mr. Do. But we could swap if you like.”

Mr. Huang shook his head.

Sehun was so cute and kind-hearted it made him lose his train of thought. In fact, he wasn’t even hungry anymore, his stomach churned as he realised he’d be alone with Sehun again.

He smiled, “Oh? What’s his name? If I teach him I’ll punish him for stealing some of the food I want to eat.”

“Jongin.” Then the blond's eyes widened, “Wait, punish!? No… Uh…”  
  


Zitao couldn’t help but smirk a little as Sehun became flustered.

“It’s just food.” The younger said embarrassingly trying to defend his classmate from a fate worse than death.

“You made it, though.” The teacher said as a matter of fact and opened the container and took some of it onto his fork.

Sehun watched patient yet eager to see the reaction.

“Sehun?”

“Y-Yes?”

“Is the pasta any good?”

“Oh…” The blond said and quickly crammed some of the heavily coated pasta into his mouth and slowly chewed. “It’s nice.”

“So is this. You’re a very good cook.”

“T-Thank you, Mr. Huang.” Sehun squeaked and looked down.

“You can call me Zitao if you’d like.”

“No way, I’m not ready for that!” The student said having an internal panic to keep his composure as he stared at the food.

Zitao smiled he reached his large hands out, cupped Sehun’s face and tilted his head up so the boy looked at him in the eye,

“Punishing that student… I suppose I’ll let it go if you come with me to a café this evening.”


	3. Touching Sehun Makes Him Feel Weird

* * *

Sehun blinked for a moment as he recalled just what had been said to him. “What?” He whispered as the teacher had his full attention. His cheeks were incredibly hot as he watched Mr. Huang smile at him.

That smile was going to end his life. His heart was pounding insanely.

Zitao licked his lips slowly. “I’m asking you to come with me to a café this evening.” He repeated and lifted his hands to rest his chin on them as he stared patiently at his student.

The blond male nodded slowly with eyes watery and wide in disbelief.

_**Later** _

Finally, it was his last lesson of the day and the dark haired teacher Zitao sighed as the classroom fell silent. He had just handed out a practice timed-assignment for his students to get used to them. He watched as Sehun peered up at him with tinted cheeks a quarter of the way through and then quickly rammed his head back down; suddenly finding his work so interesting.

Zitao was sat at his desk whilst the sound of pens inking pages and mirroring sighs from his students swam around the room.

His eyes only fixating on one student, however. He grinned knowing himself and Sehun would be going to a café once this lesson was over.  
  


“Mr. Huang can you please put on some music or something! I can hear my lunch digesting.” One of the female pupils whined and dramatically clutched her abdomen. He smiled at that remembering the days of school where a student would complain about anything and everything to get their way out of something they didn’t like.  
  


As this was just a practice assignment he didn’t mind though. Besides he didn’t exactly enjoy the silence either at this moment in time.

“Very well. Remember though, there will be no music in your real assignments or exams.” He assured harshly and some of the other students groaned at the fact.

The teacher smiled as he bent down to take out his laptop to find some music, he saw the small tin Sehun had the meal he made in and paused.

Would Sehun really like to go to a café? He seemed used to delicious food as he cooked some himself… Maybe he was good at meals and not deserts?

The café he wanted to take him to had some of the best lemon tarts he’d ever had… He couldn’t wait to see Sehun’s adorable face when he tried it.  
  


“Uh, sir. You’re zoned out.” One of his students called and he quickly pulled the laptop out and connected it to the speakers.

“Sorry.”

He earned a laugh from the majority of his class and he rolled his eyes, playing off the fact he was slightly embarrassed. He then chuckled a little and glanced to Sehun who was still looking down and writing.

He played some music from the current charts to satisfy his class and made his way over to the blond who seemed too invested in his assignment for it to actually be Sehun in that seat.

“Sehun?” He said softly and the younger’s head popped up from his desk. “Y-Yes, Mr. Huang?” He said stuttering as he scrambled his hands on his desk to try and gather his work.

The teacher gently placed a hand on his to stop him. He looked down and saw a lot of ink on those pages. Sehun was working really hard and he was going to screw up the paper?

Why?

The teacher quieted down his voice so the other students couldn’t hear him, “Is everything alright?”  
  


Sehun nodded and swallowed his embarrassment at Mr. Huang’s question.

He was his teacher! He was going to see his work regardless of whether it was now or when he was finished.

The teacher carefully picked up the papers and put them back down to put on his glasses with one hand. His eyes then slowly scanned the work.

Sehun felt his cheeks ignite as he realised his crush's hand was still softly placed on top of his.

Hastily he looked around, but surprisingly every other student in the room was focused on their assignment. He had no excuse to end it. He didn’t want to though! If anything he’d love to really hold Huang Zitao’s large hand and lace their fingers together… #He gulped.

When he received a slight ruffle through his hair by Mr. Huang his eyes widened and his hands slapped to his hair. He turned slightly to see that nobody was seriously paying attention and he was being paranoid.

His head still tingled where the long fingers of Zitao had brushed through his locks… He swallowed down a hum at the ghostly feeling.  
  


“Great work.” The English teacher stated softly and smiled.

Sehun felt the pen that was shaking in his free hand drop to the desk as he cupped his own cheeks trying to slap the blood out of them. Mr. Huang really affected him… The student knew he had issues because of this teacher…

He sucked in a breath as the teacher walked past him and reached out, clinging to the material of the shirt the older male had on.

“I need to go to the bathroom,” Sehun whispered. He shifted in his seat but found it incredibly uncomfortable… He bit his lip. No now he _really_ had a serious issue…  
  


Being granted permission to go to the bathroom he ran out of the room as quickly as he could and made his way to the bathroom. He locked himself inside a stall and held back a sob as he stared down at his arousal.

As the lesson ended and the mass of students burst out of the doorway as if someone had set off a stink bomb in the classroom, Zitao and Sehun were left in the room alone.

“You were away a long time I was worried,” Zitao said as he closed the door to ensure nobody overheard their conversation.

Sehun swallowed and bowed his head.

A lot of teachers closed their door to have conversations but this felt… No! He shook his head. He wanted to stop thinking these things, he actually had Mr. Huang confess to him only today, what more did he need?

He wished he could keep his thoughts in his notepad and away from his groin.

“Sorry. I felt a bit… sick.” Sehun said trying to keep his statement somewhat truthful. He didn’t want to lie, but he couldn’t exactly inform his crush he had just reacted that way to his touch… No it was better he forgot it or it’d happen again, probably.

He felt a little dirty. It was apparently natural if he had learnt anything during his years here, but he couldn’t have been more embarrassed earlier.  
  


“You always have me worried. Maybe it’s because I like you a lot.” Zitao whispered and reached his hand out to touch Sehun’s hair again, he enjoyed feeling the soft locks.  
  


He jolted as a pair of smaller hands grabbed his own and began to shake. He looked down at Sehun who awkwardly smiled sadly, “Please um… Don’t touch me.”

“S-Sorry, Sehun…” The dark haired male stuttered a little in surprise. Had he been hugging and touching Sehun and he didn’t want it… or like it? But the younger had hugged him just this morning…

He felt his usual smiling sprouting back onto his face as he saw the flushed cheeks of his crush.

He nodded in understanding. It must have been embarrassing, or too much, especially since they weren’t that close. Maybe he was a little forward today and Sehun couldn’t handle it. He let his hand rest at his side.

Zitao then turned around and grabbed the small tin and handed it back to Sehun. The blond thanked him and shoved it into his bag quickly.

“Sehun?” Mr. Huang spoke clearly. The large brown eyes glanced up at him with a slight watery look. The teacher swallowed, “Do you still want to go to the café with me? If I’m too much you can tell me and we can go another day.”

“No… I want to go…” Sehun muttered with a determined face and clutched the strap of his messenger bag that was on his shoulder tightly. He quickly dived into it and pulled out his phone. “I’ll let my parents know I’ll be late home.”

Zitao looked down at the floor for a second… Sehun’s parents… He felt a tight pang of guilt in his chest shake him.

Maybe… Maybe this wasn’t… Wasn’t…

There was a loud chap on the wooden door and as Sehun quickly text his parents his eyes widened a little when Mr. Wu stepped into the classroom.

The blond’s face was his usual scowl, most likely from a stressful day. “You busy, ‘Tao? I need to talk to you.” He questioned with his hand crossed and a rolled booklet situated in his armpit.

Zitao sighed, “Yifan. Yes, I’m about to go home, I’ll be in the staff room in the morning and we can talk then.” The dark haired male said and crossed his arms to mirror the other teacher.

The sharper, taller male sighed and then glanced around the room spotting Sehun, the younger almost squeaking in fear from his glare.

“How strange. I came here to talk about this very student and he’s here.” The Mathematics teacher stated with a small smile and took out the roll of papers from his person.

Sehun swallowed and looked between his two teachers Mr. Wu and Mr. Huang. He watched as Mr. Huang, his crush practically stared at the dirty blond haired male with a look he was sure no student had seen yet… He was seriously annoyed.

His brow had never gone that low…

Or perhaps he’d just never seen it himself.

Sehun awkwardly fidgeted with his thumbs as he didn’t know what to do right now.  
  


“This can wait then.” The other teacher said noticing the dangerous atmosphere he had created and left the room, the sound of his feet growing distant on the hard floor outside the classroom.

* * *

As Mr. Huang drove, Sehun sat in the passenger seat of his car and stared out the window trying to take in the scenery he had never seen before. He continued to fidget with his hands, clothes or hair. Anything he could touch.

There was a sign for a café and the dark haired male pulled into the parking lot.  
  


“I’m sorry about that Sehun.” The teacher finally spoke as the radio was the only noise between them just a few minutes ago and for the duration of the journey.

“It’s… It’s okay. He’s sort of scary, but you seemed to scare him.” Sehun said with a smile trying to making sense of it himself what happened back in the classroom.

“I didn’t scare him, I just let him know I didn’t want to hear whatever he had to say.” Mr. Huang practically hissed and the grip on the steering wheel tightened causing a small squeak.

The blond student swallowed, “Through glances? Was what Mr. Wu wanted to say… was it bad?”  
  


Zitao let go of the wheel and unbuckled his seatbelt. He reached over his seat and went to cup Sehun’s face but stopped himself knowing the younger had asked him not to.

Instead, he just stayed leaning as he spoke, “Whenever he comes to my classroom he asks me to convince you to drop my lesson.”

He watched as the blond gave a small frown and then unbuckled his own belt. Sehun pouted to himself as he opened the door and climbed out of Mr. Huang’s car.

That would explain why Mr. Huang had asked him the other day to not leave his lesson when he asked to leave…

He felt his stomach twist a little and he clutched his shirt as he felt happiness consume the awkwardness he had felt earlier. Mr. Wu had been asking the English teacher for him to convince Sehun to drop the subject…   
  


However, they both hadn’t wanted to due to their feelings for each other. Sehun only would if it meant he didn’t have to feel the pain of his crush not knowing how he felt.

He was seriously lucky his notepad was read when it was.

He grinned as the other male came out of the car also and stood in front of him with a small smile of concern.

“Here,” Zitao said as he felt himself smile a little at his student who was stood grinning. He wanted to desperately hug him but touching was off-limits.

He’d get to know Sehun more before subjecting the boy into physical acts they both couldn’t appreciate as much until they knew more about one another.

He had searched in the back seat whilst Sehun had exited the car and found the hoodie he had worn in the morning on the way to work.

He slowly pressed it into Sehun’s arms. “To hide your uniform. People will assume the worse if they don’t understand.”

The blond nodded slowly in response.  
  


Zitao bit his lip. He didn’t want Sehun to think he wanted to hide anything… He sighed.

He was thinking way ahead, they were going on a small date - if he dared call it - to a café. Not as a couple. Just… Getting to know each other more, he’d like to call it.

Sehun smiled and put on the hoodie. He could smell Zitao and it made his cheeks warmer than they were. It was really big on him but he was thankful that it covered him to stop the small gush of the wind that had begun to blow at them both.

The teacher smiled and took off his glasses, putting them in his bag. Sehun swallowed nervously as the older male motioned for him to follow.

The smaller fanfiction writer’s mind fizzled. Did he walk beside him? Did he walk next to him?

He clenched his fists and decided he’d stay behind as much as he enjoyed the idea of walking next to his crush, Mr. Huang. He didn’t want people to misunderstand.

Just as the teacher had said, people will assume the worse. That he’s been groomed by an older guy or something. He again swallowed as his throat went dry.

That wasn’t what this was though.

He smiled as they entered the café that had a lovely flower arrangement draping across the outside and a warm colourful interior.

This place screamed a creative English teacher’s paradise.

* * *

Sehun felt his entire being melt as Mr. Huang came back to their table with two yellow covered pudding and took a bite hastily before the teacher sat down.

Mr. Huang rested his head on his hands as he watched Sehun practically eat half of his lemon tart.

The counter assistant had glanced over at his table and then back at him as he ordered two. He let the scowl from trying to keep calm from the person’s judging looks surface on his face which caused Sehun to stop eating when he looked across.

“Mr. Huang-”

“Zitao.” The dark haired male interrupted and shifted in his seat and picked up his fork to eat the tart.

Sehun placed his fork down. “I said before… I… I don’t think I can say that…”

“Please Sehun, just whilst we’re here.” He couldn’t risk anyone else judging them or asking questions or else he’d get angry and he didn’t want to ruin his nice time with Sehun.

Reluctantly the student bit his lip and bent his head down until he was almost in his dessert itself. “Zi… tao.” He whispered just loud enough for the male across to barely catch it.

Zitao smiled and instinctively patted Sehun’s lowered head. The student choked and rose his head.

Both of their eyes were wide.

Zitao swallowed and cursed under his breath as he had broken the small rule he had made himself and the student could feel a substance on his face. He placed his hand on the back of his head where the male across from had just touched.

The teacher started chuckling as he had accidentally patted Sehun into his tart and some of the curd had found itself on his cheek.

“Let’s talk, ok?” Mr. Huang said and the younger went to nod but not before the older male wiped the curd from his cheek and ate it from his hand.

Sehun felt his entire stomach flip in shock and knew if he didn’t write about this in his notepad later tonight he’d regret it.


	4. A Series Of Troubling Situations

* * *

Returning from the bathroom to clear his sticky face, Sehun awkwardly rambled on about his interests; which were requested by his teacher.

“I’m really good at a lot of things. It’s something I’m proud of, instead of just having the one subject to be good at…” Sehun began.

Starting with academic things such as English and Mathematics (but he made sure not to stay too long on that subject). It sort of brought a small awkward feeling to him when he saw Mr. Huang trying to enjoy everything he spoke about knowing what had happened earlier.

He felt it was a little triggering and he shouldn’t speak about Mr. Wu’s class until he knew a little more himself. The situation with Mr. Wu was indeed awkward, but it made him smile when Mr. Huang seemed to want Sehun in his class so badly he scowled at the other teacher like that.

He just assumed they didn’t have a great relationship as co-workers, but it was because he knew his crush didn’t want him taken away above anything.

Ignoring his thoughts, for now, he carried on to talk about the creative sides of himself, and his enjoyment of sports and fanfiction. He used his hands to motion the amount of which he loved desserts, and that he wished he could make them as nice as the café he and his teacher were sat in right now.

The older male just smiled and watched as the blond student expressed his joys. He nodded and licked his lips, savouring the taste of the lemon curd he had just eaten.

Zitao hummed as Sehun gave the conversation to him.

He blinked and sat up straightly, “Me?”

“Yeah, I want to know about you too.” Sehun requested sheepishly.

Zitao smiled, if they didn’t get to know each other now, when would they? It was hard enough to talk privately at a school filled with students and teachers that would be lurking around every corner… So, this café was the perfect place.

The dark haired teacher gave a shy smile as he began talking about himself.

Sehun knew a lot of things as it would either be talked about during a lesson when other students wanted to find out more about their teachers for fun.

However, Sehun listened to every word in those lessons. As would be known without guessing, Zitao spoke about his love for English and the creative arts too. It all interlocked with other subjects.

He liked sweet things as he had brought Sehun to a café and bought him a dessert. He spoke about how he enjoys helping others realise their potential. Mr. Huang also enjoyed sports and was apparently interested in martial arts which surprised the blond sat across from him for a moment.

He smiled along with the adorable expression of surprise on Sehun’s face.

“Is that such a shock to you?” The teacher asked in amusement, he smiled and closed his eyes giving a small chuckle as he did so. He then sighed and turned to the window to look out into the scenery for a moment.

Sehun shook away the face he was making. He felt his cheeks warming from the atmosphere. He stared the older male and admired his profile as long as he could. He’d done it many of times to know that without purposely trying to Mr. Huang would tilt his head to the perfect angel that angled his jawbone upwards.

Sehun swallowed.

This was surely different to the time his mother had taken him to a café, it felt so much more intense and made his stomach warm. He didn’t find it strange though, he found it calming.

The problem earlier in the classroom was because he was being touched and his body didn’t know what to do. It had never happened before. His mind, however, knew to just keep thoughts as thoughts and not react in such ways.

He waited until his teacher turned back to him before announcing he’d go and buy a warm drink.

Maybe, he could use it as his excuse for his pinking face.

“You don’t want me to buy it for you?” Zitao had questioned as Sehun stood up.

The blond awkwardly fumbled through his messenger bag to find his wallet, “I’m already stood…” he said with a small smile. However, his teacher still turned to him with a worried expression on his thin face.

“It’s fine. I don’t expect you to buy it for me, Z-Zitao…” Sehun whispered his teacher’s name awkwardly.

“But, Sehun…” The teacher started and his student smiled again to reassure him as he stepped away.

“You already treated me to that dessert I can get myself a drink.”

As he approached the other side of the café, the young person at the counter tapped the wooden surface. Their fingers drummed the wood as they looked at Sehun, who swallowed nervously. He felt a little judged just by the looks this employee was giving him.

“So what will it be?” They questioned and began wiping the surface with a cloth. A fake smile plastered their face as they scrubbed at a stain. “Two more desserts for you and your grandpa?” They asked with a smirk.

“He’s not my… He’s not that old!” Sehun suddenly barked in a wave of slight anger. How dare this person comment on Mr. Huang’s looks like that! Better yet, question his age! They had no business with him and his teacher so they shouldn’t ask questions.

He understood now why Mr. Huang was so adamant on him getting the food…

He bit his lip as the employee snorted, “Please, you’re not fooling anyone. A lot of the customers left because they felt awkward being here. It looks like you’re either with him for money or he’s lured you in. As I’m unsure of which, I won’t comment my personal thoughts but I’d be careful if it’s the second one. Older guys aren’t as mature as you think sweetie.”

Sehun felt his anger rising within his body.

This person knew nothing about himself and Zitao! He clutched his wallet tightly and felt his jaw tighten.

“It has nothing to do with you,” Sehun said as calmly as he could manage.

“So cute aren’t you! It seems like you’re the toy. Maybe he’ll just push you away once he’s done with you. Need anyone to fill his place and I’ll be here.”

Sehun relaxed. Ignoring his ridiculous comments, the blond read the employee’s name tag:

**_Baekhyun._ **

“Y-You’re a guy?” Sehun muttered in disbelief, he thought it was a girl!

The employee’s smirk shifted into a small open mouth at Sehun’s lack of reaction.

“Yes.” He replied, the blond watched as the male rammed his hat down on his head to cover his face, a small scowl appearing on his face at his failure to get a real rise from the young boy.

Sehun then smiled, he found he had been smiling a lot more since he and his teacher confessed to one another.

“Please don’t insult him. I don’t mind if you say bad things about me, but I really like him.”

“Oh… You do?” Baekhyun questioned, his initial character and teasing qualities seeming to vanish now.

The employee’s cheeks turned pink and he turned away.

Suddenly, Sehun’s arm was grabbed gently and the blond turned to see Huang Zitao staring at him, examining him in worry. Sehun saw he had their bags.

“Are you ok?” Zitao questioned quietly so that the employee wouldn’t overhear, but he had as he spun back around a second later.

“Sugar Daddy! Were you worried about your toy?”

Sehun’s eyes widened as Zitao yanked his arm and pulled him out of the café.

He heard a small burst of laughter as the bell chimed upon exiting the building.

“He’s wrong, right?” Sehun asked suddenly as his teacher took him to the car.

“Of course he’s wrong,” Zitao replied as he opened the door for his student.

Sehun blushed a little as he climbed in.

Mr. Huang dropped Sehun off at his house and the student turned around before he drove away. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Sehun. Thank you for the evening, I enjoyed it.”

“Me too…” Sehun murmured.

* * *

That night as he ate dinner, brushed his teeth, wrote in his notepad about the curd incident and climbed into bed, Sehun sighed. His conscious wouldn’t let him have a moment for himself.

He had asked Mr. Huang if it was just that employee, Baekhyun, joking.

He had received the response he would have wanted… That it was serious feelings and not a game for his teacher, but he couldn’t stop worrying.

He knew they weren’t a couple, and he knew it wouldn’t be sunshine and rainbows every day, but he knew if this was what his mind was making himself think it was that he’d be crushed to a point of no return…

* * *

**The Next Day**

Sehun groaned as he ran a finger through his blond fringe. It was more of a curtain now than a fringe and he really needed it cut. He would have to take his mum up on her offer of having it cut…

He quickly ran to the school's bathroom and cut it a little so that it didn’t get in the way of his sight. He put the scissors he used back into his bag and exited the bathroom.

He held a breath as his skin crawled with nerves. He was worried about his relationship with Mr. Huang. Although it wasn’t set in stone that they were together, they _had_ gone on a date, and they _had_ confessed to one another.

The blond sighed and shook his head. Zitao told him yesterday that the Baekhyun guy was just joking…

Making his way to Mr. Huang’s classroom despite not even having the lesson yet, Sehun clutched his bag to his chest and bit his lip. He peered in through the glass to see an empty classroom. It was the start of the day and he couldn’t sleep too well so he had come to school early, so he guessed nobody would be inside. Teachers came to school early though and so he clenched his jaw a little and walked down the corridor.

His face relaxed a little as he heard that the staff room wasn’t booming with a conversation so there was most likely not many teachers inside it… He hoped.

Sehun tried to stifle a chuckle when he saw the door was slightly open. It was the perfect chance to see inside.

He tilted his head a little as he placed down his bag and leant against the door. He swallowed as in the small room provided for the teachers of this area he saw Mr. Huang and Mr. Wu laughing together. The pair were sat on one of the couches.

Paperwork was scattered across the small table and they seemed to have attempted to go through it, but hadn’t.

Sehun frowned. He felt himself swallow as he felt the urge to cough from being nervous with eavesdropping.

He recalled what Mr. Huang had said the day before…

_“Whenever he comes to my classroom he asks me to convince you to drop my lesson.”_

Sehun knew it was so Mr. Wu could get him to take Advanced Mathematics…

But what if that wasn’t the whole reason?

_“…Maybe he’ll just push you away once he’s done with you. …”_

Suddenly the blond gasped as he saw Wu Yifan place a hand on Huang Zitao’s shoulder and smile. Zitao smiled back and Sehun felt his chest constrict. The English teacher then whacked the hand away and smirked, “Stop being so touchy,” he called playfully.

“Oh, you two!” Another male voice called and Mr. Do stepped out of the kitchen with a mug. He took a sip as the other two males turned to him. “Find somewhere else to flirt. You’ll turn my savouries into sweets.”

Mr. Wu grinned and wrapped an arm around the male beside him. “Kyungsoo is jealous~”

“Pah!”

“Yifan!” Zitao groaned and then began to look up at the door.

Sehun gasped before the male spotted him and backed away from the door. He grabbed his bag and ran down the corridor to the main entrance and bolted out of it.

They were that close they were on a touching basis?

Why didn’t Mr. Huang tell him they were good friends?

…

Why did it seem so natural for them…?

And… Flirting?

Was Mr. Do right?

Did he know too?

Were they a couple?

Zi… Zitao must have been trying to make him feel better when he found the notepad… Decided to humour him, but Mr. Wu must not like it, him and Mr. Huang being so close…

It makes much more sense that Mr. Wu would want him to drop English now… He’d be able to keep an eye on him to stop him interfering with his relationship.

Sehun smiled as his eyes brimmed with tears when he returned home.

His parent's eyes were wide at his announcement of feeling sick.

He never felt sick…

* * *

Zitao stared at the door for a second. Nobody was there, but he still felt a little off from the atmosphere previously.

Kyungsoo and Yifan brought him back to present when they both began calling his name.

He bit his lip and collected his papers. “I’m going to set up,” he murmured. For reasons unknown, he felt something was wrong.

“Now ‘Tao?” Kyungsoo questioned a little surprised. Zitao was usually prepared and organised, but not this extreme.

“Just so you know, there’s nothing between me and Yifan,” he said as he rushed out of the door.

Kyungsoo smiled after him, “Of course there isn’t! I was just teasing,” he yelled after the dark haired male and then turned to the dirty blond Yifan.

The Mathematics teacher sighed and then collected his papers too. “I don’t think it’s _us_ he wanted to say that to.”  
  
“Huh, why? … Is he with someone?!” Kyungsoo chirped as he held his mug close to him.

“ _No_.” Yifan scowled and left the staffroom in a huff.

The short food teacher rolled his eyes at him, “Just leave me, Kyungsoo, to clear the staffroom, as usual.” he groaned as he spoke to himself.


	5. Sehun Learns What A Marathon Feels Like

* * *

Once he felt a little better, Sehun decided to go back to school, his lessons with both of the males were finished for today. Luckily, he came in after those lessons with Mr. Wu and Mr. Huang.

He had just had, well, ran out of his food class.

He didn’t mind the class itself, he’d just have to watch Jongin mess with Mr. Do and it was quite entertaining but was still cute as far as he was concerned. The short teacher eventually snapped after Jongin and chased him through the classroom.

The food compartment at the back was full of delicious smells of baking or baked foods which made the environment sweet and safe if it wasn’t for Jongin messing around. However, Sehun didn’t feel any less miserable being in that environment like he thought he would.

Sehun slowly twirled some of his hair in his fingers. He felt his cheeks tingle, then send out a sharp pain as they tightened and he began to cry. He stood up from his chair before the salty drops fell onto his freshly written work - which was more doodles than writing - and ran out of the classroom.

“Oh Sehun!” Mr. Do yelled when he escaped his classroom without permission, but Sehun was long gone to even hear him.

He couldn’t take what he saw the other day… It took him the few past days to build himself back up.

He mindlessly wandered the halls of the school as he told himself to try and forget the feelings his heart were emitting.

There was no use of them now.

Meanwhile, Zitao was practically ripping out his hair in worry over the blond. He hadn’t seen Sehun in days, his seat was empty each time he taught the class Sehun was supposed to be in.

The teacher so so badly wanted to call Sehun’s parents but he had no reason to do so. There was no excuse he could really come up with. Despite knowing Sehun was teased, as he had defended him many times, the boy had high attendance and so the school wouldn’t see the need for him to call.

He sighed loudly and a few of his students in his current class began to whisper. Zitao quickly shifted his tie so that is was in the correct place again and evened out his sleeves. He then composed himself and told his class he would be back in a few minutes.

Once he closed the wooden door behind him, he let out a huge breath he was holding in. He felt his eyes stinging in worry for the blond. He nodded in agreement with his mental thoughts that were screaming at him to call Sehun’s home. Turning to head to the main reception where he would get the information, he paused.

He was about to take a step but he was halted when familiar large brown eyes met his.

Sehun stared up at Zitao, his eyes full of water. He felt the sadness in his body increased tenfold, he wanted to shake his head in disbelief that he _actually_ wandered to Mr. Huang’s classroom of all places, once _again_.

The English teacher felt his heart thump against his ribs as he knew the younger was alright, or at least he was here. He’d known something was wrong. Their first date was not the best of experiences and he knew that. The dark haired male had begun to gather his thoughts over the past few days to be able to apologise to Sehun and correct any problems.

However, all that composition he had practised vanished and he stepped over towards the younger.

Sehun instantly stepped back in response.

“Sehun?” Mr. Huang murmured, his tone of voice sounding confused at Sehun’s action. Sehun’s expression morphed into a frown and the look of disappointment in his teacher. Zitao then stepped back again so that they were both the same distance apart once more.

“I have a feeling this is a lot more complicated than I think it is.” Zitao expressed with a frown and a hand to his face in tiredness. He looked over at the young male who was ready to explode in some sort of anger. He took a stance, fist in balls and opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry you felt you had to pretend you liked me…” Sehun croaked out and then turned on his heels and bolted down the hall away from the English teacher.

“Wait, Sehun!” Zitao shouted after him and reached out a hand, wishing it could reach all that way and stop the blond.

Pretend?

He sighed as he inhaled a deep breath and did something he never thought he would…

He ran down the hall, chasing after the younger male. Chasing a student down through the school was the last thing he’d ever do.

* * *

It was close. Every corner Sehun sped round Zitao did a few moments later. The teacher was panting heavily trying to follow his student, no, Sehun. He needed to sort this out!

Judging from his reaction back there, a lot more was going on in the young boy’s head than just their date which Zitao thought he needed to make up for…

Sehun stopped at a corner when his body reached exhaustion and turned to look behind. He saw Mr. Huang following him, gaining speed, coming closer. He felt his eyes filling up again, ready to spill tears.

Why was he following him? He didn’t really want him… Sehun had worked that out on his own.

One too many romance novels and it resulted in him viewing everything falsely like in the beginning. He bit his cheek and shut his eyes tightly. He turned to look down the next path he could take and went to dart off when his upper arm was gripped so tightly he yelped.

Sehun turned and saw Zitao staring down at him, sweat beading on his forehead from overexertion and chasing him. He felt his entire being shaking and saw that the English teacher was too.

The younger began crying and attempted to pull himself away out of the grip, but it was so tight. Zitao was gripping onto him with no intention of letting him go.

“Why are you doing this? You don’t have to say anything, I get it!” The blond screeched. His voice echoed through the empty classrooms and the English teacher was breathing heavily, trying to catch his breath.

“No.” Zitao said harshly, “You don’t get it.”

Their eyes met and the student flinched at the dark haired male pulling him closer.

Sehun shut his eyes and let himself fall against Mr. Huang’s chest.

* * *

“Talk to me, Sehun.” Mr. Huang asked, practically begging Sehun to speak. The blond sat with him in his car as he did on the date. Sehun managed to convince himself that if Mr. Huang wanted to talk to him then there must be more to what he saw. It was wrong to assume and he’d caused himself so much heartache without even listening to the older male.

The English teacher had taken them both to a close yet private destination to the school. The large trees swayed in the wind and the leaves that broke away from them skimmed across the windscreen like feathers as Zitao placed a hand on Sehun’s.

Right now wasn’t the time to be cautious about touching Sehun, now was the time to ensure the student that he was there… There for him, and did feel strongly about him. 

_“I’m sorry you felt you had to pretend you liked me…”_

Sehun’s eyes met Zitao’s again and the pair gave a small smile to one another to try and ease any nervousness they felt.

“It’s just you and me, you can talk to me. Let me fix whatever I did to upset you.” The teacher begged and squeezed Sehun’s hand. Sehun slowly pulled his hand away and placed both of them in his lap. Tears began to stain his uniform recalling the very scene he saw that caused him the pain his chest was feeling now.

“I saw you and Mr. Wu in the staffroom the other day.”

Zitao frowned in question and then sighed once he remembered exactly what had happened. He had thought someone was at the door and he had thought it was Sehun. However, he assumed he had gone mad with his feelings for the boy and began imagining him everywhere.

He smiled a little, feeling the corners of his mouth turning. He quickly dismissed his smile and cleared his throat, “I thought you were there. I thought I was imagining it.”

“So… Did you want to tell me about that now or when I found out?” Sehun whispered, he began shaking and the teacher swallowed.

“Sehun there’s nothing between me and Yi- Mr. Wu. Teachers are a lot different in private than in the classroom, you know that right? Of course, we’ll act differently and more friendly. We can’t do that in front of students, we are the authority.”

“You’re not going out with Mr. Wu?” The blond timidly questioned and received a laugh and a warm smile from the teacher sat beside him. Zitao reached over and cupped Sehun’s face.

He reckoned he should have done this in the beginning as it could be confusing between two people where they stand if it’s not laid out.

Sehun felt his breath grow shaky as Zitao looked into his eyes. “There’s nothing. Not-a-thing, between me and Yifan or Mr. Wu. I promise that it’s only you.”

Sehun stayed staring at the older in a sort of trance as he held his face. The English teacher internally scolded himself. That’s what someone who meant the opposite would say…

When it came to talking to Sehun he was a jumbled mess, but if he could write an essay on how he felt he knew the boy wouldn’t doubt him ever again.

He cleared his throat again, “I wouldn’t use you as a toy, it’s already dangerous that I have feelings for you… I wouldn’t risk your future or mine just for a bit of fun. I’m serious about how I feel about you.”

Slowly, the blond nodded and smiled. Mr. Huang looked at him puzzled and the younger felt his tears meet the large hands cupping his face. “I’m an idiot…” Sehun said degradingly and Zitao shook his head.

“You’re not. I’m an idiot. Our date went terrible and I never made up for it. I want to show you everything I can that makes you happy, to make you see how happy you make me.” He then sighed and let go of the soft face and leant back into his seat.

He turned to Sehun after the younger didn’t reply and saw the entirety of the small face pink. He started laughing.

Sehun shook his head in embarrassment and buried his head into his palms. Zitao guessed he said something right for once as Sehun then turned to him with an adorable grin and hugged him awkwardly from his seat.

Sehun jolted when a buzz scared him coming from the dark haired male. Zitao sighed and pulled out his phone to see Yifan calling him. It was probably because he abandoned his class and classroom without a word…

He didn’t care currently, he had something more important to deal with.

He asked Sehun if it was alright to return back to the school and the younger agreed to go back.

Everything was sorted now, he hoped.

He poked Sehun before they headed their separate ways to different classrooms. He had his class and Sehun had another.

“Is everything okay now?” Zitao asked and bit his lip.

He felt like a teenager again sorting out relationship issues in the middle of the school day!

The blond male nodded and waved the older male bye. “See you tomorrow, Mr. Huang. Ah, Zitao! We can talk more then, if not I’m going to be late for my class!”

Zitao grinned at seeing Sehun high-spirited again and headed in the opposite direction.

* * *

The next day Sehun arrived at school with a grin on his face. His first lesson today was with Mr. Huang.

He stepped through a large crowd of students. Some girls and guys were squealing in excitement.

Sehun sighed as he was shoved around by some of the more brawny students in his attempt to free himself. He fell to the floor in the centre of the gathering. He hissed in pain and began collecting his books that had fallen out.

Before school had ended yesterday he left his notepad in his locker to avoid the chance of anyone else reading it like Mr. Huang had managed to.

“Ah, it’s you!” A voice called and Sehun locked eyes with a male.

Sehun touched in front of his eyes and realised his glasses were not on his face.

“Here you go, the cute one!” Sehun blinked as his glasses were shoved back on his face and his eyes widened as he looked at the owner of the voice.

Baekhyun?!

The blond scrambled backwards and tried to pinch his wrist has hard as he could.

“What are you doing? I’m no dream. I know it’s hard to believe.” Baekhyun said with a devious chuckle.

Sehun’s head sank in exhaustion already and the day hadn’t even started…

* * *

“I transferred here, but I never expected to see you. So you go to school here, huh?”

Sehun nodded sheepishly as Baekhyun rammed himself right beside Sehun’s desk with his own. There were supposed to be separate desks for each student, but Baekhyun and placed a desk next to the other without care.

“I didn’t know you were a school student,” Sehun whispered as the rest of the class were watching them.

Many were in disbelief that someone like Baekhyun would talk to Sehun. The boy had designer shoes, sunglasses and his bag was at least twice the amount all of their parents were paid in a month! Still, he was all over Sehun and they didn’t know why.

“Yeah… It gets boring though so I got that job to tease people like yourself! I like to assume their situations. I get told off a lot for actually saying something though. But there’s a lot more to me than that! You’ll see!”

Sehun sighed at learning Baekhyun’s antics, however, he couldn’t help but smile at the fact Baekhyun had just admitted to being more than a nuisance to others. Perhaps there was a normal boy under the facade.

The eccentric male groaned, “So is the English teacher a man or woman? Are they hot?”

Sehun’s face dropped in the realisation that Baekhyun had seen him and Mr. Huang the other day and would most likely recognise him.

Then he’d know that he was dating him!

The classroom door opened and the blond haired male sank down in his seat as Baekhyun turned to the door excitedly and Mr. Huang stepped in looking down at his register and then looked out to the class.

His eyes instantly met Sehun’s and then Baekhyun’s.

“It’s him!” Baekhyun spat and stood up from his desk.


End file.
